Archive for January, 2016

Over the last several weeks I’ve been talking to you about creating change in your habits. The way to go about making a lasting change and the benefits of taking small steps toward your stated goal.

This week I’m talking about the benefits of rewards. I don’t know about you but I do my best work when there is a reward to work for. Now, the reward is not always an object.

I like to treat myself: to an extra hour of reading time

a mani/pedi

a massage

or a movie complete with popcorn!

Sometimes my reward is the joy I receive from knowing that I’ve completed a task to the best of my ability (notice I did not say perfectly).

How about you? What sorts of rewards will work for you? Think about that. When you’re trying your best to create a new habit or a change in your routine and you successfully stick to your plan for the day consider rewarding yourself at the end of the day. If there’s no time for a reward today then schedule time in your calendar for that reward sometime very soon.

Make a list of the rewards you like best so that when it’s time to reward yourself you can treat yourself to something wonderful! Try to make your reward an experience.

I believe the more you can reward yourself for a job well done the more success you will have!

I wrote last week about taking small steps toward your stated goal. But, why take small steps? Why not just dive in and really make an impact? The reason is simply if you want to make lasting change, to create a new habit, the best way to do so is by being gentle with yourself and implementing the change over time.

Taking small steps allows your body and mind to get used to a shift in the pattern. Your inner voice might talk to you and say something like ‘this isn’t so bad, next time let’s do a little more’. Then you take the next step forward, pause, let yourself become accustomed to this new way before adding the next incremental level.

If you take huge steps you shock yourself and that’s not particularly friendly. Let’s say, for example, that you decided that you want to get more exercise and made a plan to workout at your local fitness center. You go for the first time and workout on the machines without regard to the amount of repetitions you’re doing or the weight you’re lifting. You go home and collapse on the couch. Every muscle in your body is sore. Do you think you’re going to want to go back? I don’t!

It’s better to start slowly. Lift light weights (or medium weights) and only do a few repetitions of each exercise. Then you’ll feel great and have more energy to proceed with the rest of your day. And you’ll want to go back. That’s what we’re looking for – the desire to continue to make a new habit (going to the gym, getting exercise on a regular basis)!

To update you on how I’m doing setting Monday aside working on my business housekeeping – it’s a bit of a struggle to not assign an errand or two to the empty space of Monday morning. So, I’m taking my own advice and starting slowly. I’m allowing myself to do 1 very necessary errand on Monday. Only 1.

How are you doing? Are you sticking to your plan? Is it hard? Have you compromised a little? Write me back I’d love to know!

Did you identify a habit to change? Perhaps you just want to shake up your routine. Take your time and change your habit little by little. If you’ve decided to lose a few pounds then why not start by reducing the size of your portions? You can even trick yourself by using a smaller plate. That way the portions look right for the size of the plate!

If you decided to work out more often why not start by taking a short walk every day and then gradually increasing the distance you walk and the pace you set. There’s a great app for that. Check out RunKeeper. I use it every morning when I walk my dogs. I like to see how far we’ve traveled (usually not that far as I have limited time), what pace we kept (we walk slowly as my dog, Miles, likes to sniff a lot), and how many calories I’ve burned in the process.

young fitness woman hiker legs at forest trail

If you want to get more sleep try going to bed five or ten minutes earlier each night until you arrive at the bedtime that works for you.

Night fairy tale – bright moon in the night sky

Be consistent in your efforts and forgive yourself if you goof one day. Remember your reason for creating a new habit and make a plan to start implementing it. You may want to post some reminders around the house or set reminders in your phone to help you.

I know it will be hard for me to resist doing a few errands if I don’t have a client scheduled on a Monday morning and if I have errands to do. However, it has become increasingly evident to me that I really need to dedicate this time to business housekeeping. Knowing that makes me WANT to create this new habit.

Be sure about the habit you are choosing to create. Since you know that changing a habit is a challenge it’s not enough to need to change the habit. You also have to WANT to make this change. Once you have the desire to change, make a plan to take small incremental steps toward this new habit. Small steps are the key to lasting change.

So, now that we are really and truly into the New Year it’s time to act on the resolutions we made. I told you already that the big change I’m making in my weekly routine is to set Monday mornings aside to take care of business housekeeping. I resolved to keep those hours to myself. I have decided that I will not take care of errands or allow myself to book a client on a Monday morning.

What habit did you decide to change? Did you decide to work out more often? To lose a few pounds? To take more time for yourself? To get to appointments on time? To get more sleep by going to bed earlier?

The reason I have decided to set Monday morning aside for business housekeeping is that in the course of the last couple of years as I have become much busier with clients and other business opportunities (YIPPEE!) I have had less time to take care of these little details. I have been fitting them in – in between other tasks – and not giving them my full attention.

What’s your reason to create a new habit or change your routine? It will be easier to work on when you know exactly why you have decided to work on it.

Whatever it is that you resolved to do absolutely will not happen unless you make some changes in how you run your day or how you do what you do. This is a true statement. It may sound a little harsh but it’s a fact nothing changes if nothing changes. You can only have a new or different result by changing your habits.

It’s also true that it’s real work to change a habit. It’s so much easier to give into temptation and do things the way you’ve always done them. It’s also true that lasting change doesn’t happen overnight. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that it can be done. Next week I’m going to give you some strategies to start creating this new habit.

I’d love to know if there’s a change you’re going to make in your routine and if so, what it is.